Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors pick the best Philly sports images from the last seven days. This week, however, isn’t just about the end of the Eagles’ season — it’s also about turning the page and remembering there’s more to life than just football. We’ve got photos of Joel Embiid and the Sixers, Matvei Michkov and the Flyers, and Cavan Sullivan and the Union returning to the practice pitch.
And, yes, there are pictures of the Eagles’ game — but maybe Saquon Barkley’s adorable kids can soften the blow …
The Eagles’ loss Sunday was their first home playoff loss under Nick Sirianni.
The Eagles have made the playoffs in each of the five years under Nick Sirianni, but lost in the wild-card round three times. The other two years they went to the Super Bowl.
49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who finished second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage, scored a pair of touchdowns against the Eagles on Sunday.
Unprompted, Howie Roseman listed Nick Sirianni’s responsibilities and accomplishments.
Normally, a head coach one year removed from winning a Super Bowl, who has taken his team to the title game twice, and to the postseason in each of his first five seasons, wouldn’t need to be publicly lionized by his general manager.
But these aren’t normal times and not in Philadelphia. The Eagles got bounced from the playoffs in the first round and the expectations that have risen from recent success — in part because of Sirianni — have helped foster a distorted reality that has been amplified by a culture increasingly shaped by contrarianism, algorithms, and conspiracy.
Roseman heard several questions about the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator when he felt compelled to jump in. He knew where the inquiry was going having sat in the same seat two years ago when Sirianni’s authority seemed diminished and he was asked essentially: What is it exactly that you do here?
The narrative that Sirianni was just a figurehead propped up by Roseman and his coordinators has hung over his tenure — even after winning a championship. But it gained steam again after he removed Kevin Patullo as coordinator on Tuesday, and the question of who will replace him and how much Sirianni will be involved in the offense remains unanswered.
There is truth to the notion that the selection of a pedigreed play-caller who has previously been a head coach — Mike McDaniel and Brian Daboll are among the top candidates on the list — will make Sirianni more powerless, perhaps put him on the hot seat as early as next season if things go poorly. Roseman might have been anticipating that narrative when he spoke on Sirianni’s behalf during Thursday’s end-of-season news conference.
“I’ve got a lot of things that I’d like to say about Coach and the job that he’s done here,” Roseman said.
He then proceeded to spell out what he thought Sirianni, as a CEO-type coach, was “elite” at doing: “Building connections with our team, … talking about fundamentals, game management, situational awareness, bringing the team together, holding people accountable.”
The GM continued: “When you’re looking for a head coach, those are really the job descriptions. As you’re building out a coaching staff, you’re talking about being able to do that, being able to have elite play callers on both sides of the ball, and when you think about how hard it is to find those three things and that we have one, I mean, we’re starting with a huge advantage.”
To Roseman’s point, it would be true to say neither McDaniel nor Daboll came remotely close to doing what Sirianni has done as head coach.
McDaniel, who was fired by the Miami Dolphins over a week ago, and Daboll, who was fired by the New York Giants in November, will get some interviews for one of nine head coach vacancies. But they are more likely to be coveted by teams in search of a coordinator.
How much Sirianni is willing to cede authority could dictate how attractive the Eagles job is to the prospective contenders. Roseman’s statement that the coach has given previous hires “the flexibility to put their own spin on things” made it obvious he would give as much autonomy as he does to defensive coordinator Vic Fangio — if need be.
Sirianni, for his part, didn’t divulge much about what he’s looking for and how much will change in terms of his involvement and a new scheme.
“Those decisions don’t have to be made for a long time and, as the head coach, you always have to be oversight of everything,” Sirianni said. “Again, this year obviously I got involved more on the offense as the end of the season came because that’s what I needed to do as the head football coach there. Many different ways to do it.
“I know that I want to be the head football coach and I think that that’s what the team needs.”
But even though he gave up play-calling midway through his first season as coach, and more of his system after coordinator Brian Johnson was fired two years ago and Kellen Moore was brought in as his replacement, the offense has remained relatively the same throughout.
At least since Sirianni decided to abandon some of the scheme he brought with him from Indianapolis and cater his offense more to quarterback Jalen Hurts’ skill set, which meant more emphasis on the run game.
The offense evolved over time and was most explosive in 2022 when the Eagles first reached the Super Bowl. But then-coordinator Shane Steichen left to take the Colts’ head job, and running it back again in 2023 didn’t work with Johnson at the controls.
Two years ago, when Sirianni sat in the same chair and was asked about the next coordinator and his involvement, he said there would be a “meshing” of systems. The Eagles hadn’t yet announced Moore’s hiring, but they had zeroed in on him.
This year, they aren’t as far along because the news conference came earlier than two years ago. They have also cast a wider net. Roseman will lead the search. Owner Jeffrey Lurie and his son Julian, recently appointed to a formal role within the organization, will also be in the interviews, per a team source. Sirianni will be in the meetings too, but it is apparent that the senior members of the front office will be making the final call.
There don’t appear to be any restrictions, but the Eagles will likely lean toward proven commodities. It has been suggested that they hire an offensive Fangio who no longer has head coaching aspirations because they previously lost Steichen and Moore to promotions.
“It’s a great compliment when guys get head coaching jobs from here because it means we’re having tremendous success,” Roseman said. “As much as you’d like to have continuity and would like to have guys here for a long period of time, we want to win. We have an urgency to win right now.”
But the offense clearly needs a reset. Two years ago, Sirianni said the offense had gotten “stale” and that he wanted to bring in “new ideas.” This year, he said the scheme needs to “evolve.” The Eagles were again at the lower end of being under center, using motion, and throwing over the middle of the field. They ran more hitch routes than any other team.
From 2022-24, they had one of the NFL’s best offenses, despite not necessarily being at the vanguard of modern offense. But they took a significant step back in 2025 for a variety of reasons. Patullo struggled as a play-caller, but he also took the brunt of the blame because he was the new piece.
Hurts and others got off easier. Sirianni and Roseman, as expected, mostly praised the quarterback when asked about his performance this season.
“We all had a hand in our offense this year,” Sirianni said. “Good, bad, you name it, we all had a hand in it. That’s every coach, every player, myself obviously at the front of that list.”
Sirianni said it would be “foolish” not to have Hurts involved in the coordinator search, but he also mentioned including other players in the same breath. Two of those players — wide receiver A.J. Brown and tackle Lane Johnson — may not even be on the roster for different reasons.
Roseman called Brown “a great player” when asked about trading the receiver who is still under contract, but he didn’t directly answer the question. And he declined to give an update on where Johnson, who turns 36 in May, stands on possible retirement.
Hurts isn’t going anywhere. He’s been the one main constant in the offense since the beginning. Any good coach revolves his schemes around his players, but never more so than at quarterback.
It’s unclear how much Hurts kept the offense from evolving this season — or even doing what it did well previously in terms of him running — but Sirianni said the 27-year-old quarterback will be open to change.
“I think you saw this year that he’s open to do a bunch,” he said. “We were under center probably more than we have been. Different motions, different things like that. Here’s what I’ll say: Jalen’s proved this to everybody, that he’ll do whatever it takes to win football games. Sometimes that’s throwing it a bunch, sometimes that’s running it a bunch, sometimes it’s him handing it off a bunch.
“He’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman (left) offered unsolicited and lavish praise for Nick Sirianni on Thursday.
But that was far from good enough this season, at least on the offensive side of the ball, despite the Eagles having the most expensive unit in the league. There will be a balancing of sorts in the offseason through the draft. The offensive line may undergo some retooling.
The defense will lose some parts, but young, homegrown talent will eventually need to be paid. Roseman, who like Sirianni had faced doubters despite winning a title, knows how to rebuild a roster. Both said the Eagles were in win-now mode.
But the GM knew what kind of pressure that would place upon the coach, who has yet to win over a vocal segment of the fan base, and even himself. So he offered a parting clarification.
“I think it’s important for our fans to understand, you can do whatever it takes to win now and still build for the future and still have those parallel paths,” Roseman said. “I just don’t want it to get confused that we can’t do whatever it takes to build a championship-caliber team next year and also continue to have really good players on this team for the future.
“I just want to make sure that we’re on the same page on that.”
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday honoring the civil rights leader’s legacy, is Monday and it brings with it changes to schedules across the Philadelphia region. From government offices and post offices to trash collection and banks, many services will operate on adjusted hours or close entirely.
Here’s what you need to know so you can plan your Monday with confidence.
❌ TD Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase bank will be closed.
PHARMACIES
CVS
✅ CVS locations will operate on normal business hours. Call your local store before visiting or view its hours at cvs.com/store-locator/landing.
Walgreens
✅ Walgreens locations will be open for regular business hours. Check your local store’s hours at walgreens.com/storelocator.
TRASH COLLECTION
❌ There is no trash or recycling pickup on MLK Day. But trash pickup will resume a day later than scheduled. To find your trash and recycling collection day, go to phila.gov.
✅ Lowe’s stores are open for normal business hours. Check your local store’s hours at lowes.com/store.
Home Depot
✅ Home Depot locations will be open during normal business hours. Check your local store’s hours at homedepot.com/l/storeDirectory.
SHOPPING MALLS
✅ The Shops at Liberty Place, Fashion District Philadelphia, Franklin Mall, Cherry Hill Mall, and King of Prussia Mall will be open for their regular hours.
This week’s column talks about heroes with feet of clay, SEPTA’s starts and stops, and America’s 250th birthday celebrations.
No one’s hero
Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal is having her 15 minutes of fame this week, with her comments at a news conference alongside District Attorney Larry Krasner spreading across social media. After the killing of Renee Good by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis, Krasner stated that he would hold federal officers accountable for any violation of the law. Bilal warned that the feds “don’t want that smoke” and called ICE “fake wannabe law enforcement.” She even scored an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett.
That’s all well and good, but there’s one big problem with Bilal’s position: The sheriff ultimately has no ability to protect Philadelphians from ICE.
Despite her title and natty uniform, it is Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel who serves as the city’s top law enforcement official, not Bilal. This is a good thing because the sheriff’s track record is disastrous.
Despite running for the office in 2019 as a reformer, Bilal began her tenure by firing Brett Mandel, her chief financial officer, just five weeks into his tenure. Mandel had flagged her use of what he described as a slush fund. A longtime good government advocate, Mandel objected to using city funds to pay for things like parking tickets and six-figure media consulting contracts.
While Bilal was basking in the media spotlight of talking tough against ICE, Bethel was not amused. Given Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s clear strategy to avoid poking the orange bear, Bilal’s comments forced the commissioner to make clear in a statement that it is the Philadelphia Police Department that runs law enforcement in the city, not the sheriff.
If people are looking for a genuine local hero in the national crisis over immigration enforcement, why not opt for Keisha Hudson instead? Hudson, who leads the local Defenders Association, has put together a new unit specializing in immigration cases. An immigrant from Jamaica herself, Hudson has both the right job and the right life experience to help residents who have been mistreated by ICE.
Eagles fans wait for a Broad Street Line train at City Hall station.
The wheels on the bus
During the yearslong debate over transit funding in Pennsylvania, one consistent drumbeat is that SEPTA needed to become more efficient if it wanted to get more support.
Of course, SEPTA already does more with less when compared with other major agencies, with cost-per-ride lower than in Boston and Washington, D.C. Additionally, trying to save money can sometimes cost agencies in the long run, or at the very least cost scarce political capital.
In fact, most of the current crises SEPTA faces are the result of trying to save money or insufficient political will. For example, better capitalized agencies would have replaced the Regional Rail fleet a decade or so ago. Meanwhile, the weekslong closure of the trolley tunnel happened because the agency tried using a new part — in the hope that it would be replaced less frequently and cost less.
Perhaps the Broad Street Line felt left out of the chaos because operations there have become a new pain point for riders. The 1980s Kawasaki trains are well-built. They are also nearly 45 years old. When I first started at The Inquirer five years ago, then-SEPTA General Manager Leslie Richards told me she hoped to avoid replacing the trains until the 2040s. Recent issues on that line make me question that timeline.
For weeks, the trains have struggled with mechanical issues. Riders have reported jam-packed trains that have been forced to skip stops, line adjustments, and other delays. According to a spokesperson, door faults and general vehicle malfunctions have contributed to the problems.
It all came to a head at the end of Sunday’s Eagles game.
After a door issue disabled a train near Snyder Station, already dejected fans were forced to wait until 9 p.m. to catch a ride home. SEPTA is spending $5 million to upgrade the traction motors, which should help. What’s really needed, however, are new trains.
Historical interpreters (from left) Benjamin Franklin, Gen. George Washington, and President Abraham Lincoln stand with other audience members for the Presentation of the Colors, as the U.S. Mint unveils new coins for the Semiquincentennial at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia in December.
Let’s get this party started
The United States is celebrating a big one this year. America’s big 250th birthday party is here … can you tell?
I can’t. While big events like the World Cup are planned for later this year, there is currently little to indicate that 2026 is any different from 2025. The patriotic bunting that sprouted all over Philadelphia during the Civil War and the Centennial has yet to appear.
Vladimir Putin’s excuse for invading Ukraine was that it belongs to Russia because it used to be part of the Soviet Union. I don’t think any American bought that idea. Now, Donald Trump wants to take over Greenland for our national security before Russia or China takes it over. Does anyone buy that argument now? Why was it wrong for Russia to invade Ukraine, but it is OK for the U.S. to take over Greenland? Since when is it OK for the U.S. to take over another country? How about an autonomous territory of a NATO ally? How can any American (Republican, Democrat, independent, MAGA, progressive) think this is all right? Trump says he’s doing what his voters want. Did anyone who voted for Trump want him to take over Greenland?
June Siegel,Elkins Park
Fear or anger
After reviewing the multiple videos of the horrific shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, we are asked to believe the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was motivated by fear for his life as he got out of the way of Good’s SUV. I would suggest another emotion that motivated him: anger. In other videos, an expletive directed toward Good can be heard. After the ICE agent shoots through the front windshield and the SUV passes him by, he continues to shoot through the open driver’s side window when he is no longer allegedly in danger. If one wanted to explain the term gaslighting, there are few better examples than the interpretation of this video we are hearing from ICE and Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem. In other words, “Don’t believe what you see.”
Pasquale Procacci, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Circle of violence
The story of Nyshyia Thomas is gut-wrenching. While her one son was killed as an innocent victim of a random shooting, her other son and her partner devastated their family through pure recklessness. Despite the second son owning his gun legally, he and his formerly incarcerated father prioritized violence over their family by arming themselves and running toward gunfire rather than retreating. Thomas blames “the system” for swallowing the two men — but the reality is that the system has no hunger for people who don’t marinate in guns and violence.
Rosamond Kay,Philadelphia
It’s time
On Sept. 11, 1976, 1,500 people gathered at the Lewis Quadrangle at Independence Hall. They were there to launch a time capsule created by the Women For Greater Philadelphia (the nonprofit stewards of historic Laurel Hill Mansion in East Fairmount Park). Children 10 years old or younger were asked to include their names in the capsule. The 816 children whose names were included received a certificate. It charged each one to open and reseal the time capsule in 2026, and tell their children to open it again in 2076. A letter from then-Mayor Frank Rizzo, written to the current mayor, and from Gov. Milton Shapp to the people of Pennsylvania, is also in the capsule.
The capsule will be opened sometime this fall during a ceremony with representatives from the state as well as other dignitaries. If you were present at the filling of the time capsule in 1976 and received a certificate charging you with the privilege and responsibility to carry the “Spirit of 76” forward to future generations, we’d like to hear from you at womenforgreaterphiladelphia.org/time_capsule.html.
Barbara Frankl,chairperson of the board, Laurel Hill Mansion, Blue Bell
Flu surges
Americans are terribly exhausted and stressed. Chronic anxiety over the affordability of basic needs like food, housing, and healthcare wears people down. Rapid technological changes like artificial intelligence and robotics are threatening U.S. employment. The climate change crisis continues, and people fear violence. No wonder there is a flu surge this season — our immune systems are shot, rendering us vulnerable to not only influenza but also other infectious and noninfectious diseases.
Richard A. Lippin, Southampton
Legal shield
The recent arson at the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue in Jackson, Miss., is the consummate example of antisemitism. What is not antisemitism is criticizing the state of Israel for the genocide it is implementing, the famine it is enforcing, and the ceasefire it is violating under the guise of national defense. House Bill 6090, which allows for the criticism of the government of Israel to be considered as antisemitism, passed the U.S. House, with Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Madeleine Dean, Brendan Boyle, and New Jersey Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Donald Norcross are all voting to squash your right to free speech in order to protect the state of Israel from criticism. This is anti-American.
Roy Lehman,Woolwich Township
Two questions
Growing antisemitic violence worldwide — with hate sanctioned through sentiments like those expressed by Vice President JD Vance at the recent Turning Point USA conference — compels me to share a personal story. The Baltimore of my youth was a time marred by disgraceful, degrading Jim Crow laws. Large signs were posted throughout neighborhoods and establishments reading, “No Jews, Negroes, or Dogs.” With regularity, our school classes traveled to Philadelphia to visit the Liberty Bell, which is inscribed with words from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all inhabitants thereof.” No teacher ever referenced the disparity between these words and life as endured in Baltimore.
Following the April 4, 1968, assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., parts of inner-city Baltimore erupted in flames. My father’s business, a fuel oil company started by his father, was destroyed, including the trucks that serviced families with necessary heating oil and the accounts receivable. Although most of his customers lived far from the business location, my father cared about those living near his business, providing heat for countless families, never expecting payment, contributing to all charities he knew about, and, when invited, attending church services with ourfamily. On April 10, eight months pregnant with my first child, I stood in front of my father’s former business, scorched and burned, the smell of destruction ever-present. I heard a man my dad recognized taunt us with a slur. My anguished mother quietly responded, not to the man but to me, “Why are we so hated?”
Our beloved rabbi, Uri Miller, urged my father to declare bankruptcy, but he refused. My parents sold their comfortable home, most furnishings, and cashed in savings. As soon as his debts were paid, he and my mother moved to a small apartment in Florida. My father believed he had dishonored his father’s name, failed his wife, and disgraced his family. Eventually, my father kept his promise to my mother, bringing her home to be buried in the same Baltimore cemetery as her parents. Several years later, he was buried beside her. More than 30 years after her death, my mother’s haunting question remains: Why are Jewish people so hated? Or to draw on the prescient, thought-provoking insights of Holocaust survivor and activist on behalf of the protection and well-being of all people, Elie Wiesel: Are Jews only spoken up for once we are dead?
SaraKay Smullens, Philadelphia
Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.
DEAR ABBY: I am a senior woman in great shape. I am active, and I have never had a problem attracting men. Five years ago, I married a man I had known for many years. We used to have a pretty active sex life, but it has been four years since he has touched me in an intimate way. He says he doesn’t know why, and that it is due to lack of confidence.
I’m afraid that if I don’t leave, I’ll never know the loving arms of a man around me again. In other ways, we get along fine, but as time has progressed, I no longer find him attractive. If he did make a move today, I think I would reject it because too much hurt has happened.
Financially, leaving would be a disaster. Our friends and family think we are a great couple, but no one knows the truth. I feel like I am sinking into a morass with each long, lonely day. Please advise.
— UNTOUCHED IN COSTA RICA
DEAR UNTOUCHED: Before you sink further into depression, I urge you to discuss this with your doctor and get a referral to a licensed psychotherapist. Make no hard-and-fast decisions about your marriage until you are feeling better. I don’t know what caused your husband’s problem. Neither do you, and it’s possible that neither does he.
Is your husband aware of how strongly you feel about this and that you are seriously considering leaving? If he isn’t, would he be willing to explore possible solutions and perhaps heal your relationship? And, finally, if he is, would YOU be willing to try again? I know I am giving you more questions than answers, but they are worth considering.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: As the compliance officer at a university, it’s my job to run mandatory training for faculty and staff. They know the dates, times and schedules for the meetings weeks in advance. I try hard to keep these training sessions as short and as few in number as possible, which means we need to use all the time available.
My issue is that whenever we call a short break, some subset of people will wander away to unknown destinations. Are they looking for coffee? A bandage? A reevaluation of their life goals? We never know.
I am left with two choices: Hold everyone up and wait for them to return, which is polite but ensures we will all end the day late, or start without them. The ruder option means I must deny their certification until they meet with me to catch up on what they missed. Both options are frustrating.
I’ve learned that the longer the break, the more people who will go missing. No number of warnings or amount of cajoling will bring everyone back on time. So which option is better: starting, or waiting?
— RUNNING THE SHOW IN MASSACHUSETTS
DEAR RUNNING: Stop being such a pushover. At the beginning of each meeting, explain to the attendees that everyone must be present for the entire presentation OR YOU CANNOT CERTIFY THEM. Then follow through. Do not continue to make yourself available for those who skip out, because it is disrespectful of the folks who stayed.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’ll consider the time someone has spent to create or maintain the things that keep your world spinning, and you’ll be humbled by their efforts. There’s nothing you need to pay back, and plenty to pay forward.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Difficult people will test your patience, and offering it will be worth your while. The steadier you are now, the richer you’ll be later — in dollars and in what matters even more.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You might be amazed at how few people listen as well as you. Today your listening will carry more weight than speaking. Tune in, notice subtleties and respond only when it feels essential. You’ll discover something in your quiet observation that will help you in the weeks to come.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Paradoxically, when you go at the problem as though help will never arrive, you realize you might not even need help because you are more amazing at this than you think — and of course, that’s when help will find you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Your magnetic presence is further amplified when you step into a role of generosity. As you offer attention, encouragement and kindness, people will respond in ways you can’t predict, and your energy will multiply.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The details you usually scrutinize so carefully can take a back seat today. Focus instead on the bigger picture, the patterns and the possibilities. Precision is valuable, but insight lives in the spaces between the lines.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Collaboration will shine if you release the idea of perfect balance. Give more than you take, speak honestly and trust that harmony is a dynamic, living thing, and not a fixed equation. Mutual growth will surprise you.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). What draws your eye? What makes you hungry for more? What makes you want to reach out? Follow inspiration today because even the slightest movement toward your attractions will reward you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Curiosity is your favorite fuel — better than protein shakes or coffee, better than romance, anger or competition. Curiosity opens new topics and bonds you with new people, and today has you finally and happily trying a path you’ve been hesitant about.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Discipline is your signature, but today flexibility is your ally. As you loosen the grip on how things “should” unfold, opportunities just appear. Success sneaks in through doors you didn’t plan to open.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Today, your originality will be most effective because you pair it with practical action. Ideas are abundant, but of course execution is everything. Don’t wait for perfection, because progress is the real magic.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). There will be no shortage of ideas for you today. It’s like the world is your think tank. Pick one and pursue it to the first milestone. Beginnings are a bit rocky no matter which choice you make, and that just goes with the territory.
TODAY’SBIRTHDAY (Jan. 16). This is your Year of Spacious Living, marked by room to think, rest and recalibrate. Your calendar breathes. Your mind stretches. With fewer constraints, you hear yourself more clearly and make choices that feel intentional and clean. More highlights: What begins as a small opportunity expands wildly. You’ll broaden your world with new work, new social circles, a new sense of belonging. Taurus and Sagittarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 17, 8, 31 and 7.
Nearly 20 people witnessed an assault in the Cheltenham High football team’s locker room last fall, according to an external investigation commissioned by the school district.
No one tried to stop it, “and several participated freely in it,” Superintendent Brian Scriven told the Cheltenham community in an e-mailed message Thursday. “Several students also filmed the assault.”
The assault — which happened Sept. 3 — ultimately resulted in the cancellation of the team’s season in October and led to the hazing investigation, for which Scriven released the results Thursday night. His message did not include additional details about the assault.
Though a pattern of hazing was “not fully substantiated,” Scriven wrote, other troubling findings include: inadequate student supervision in the locker room, “a failure to prioritize student safety by the coaching staff and/or adult volunteers,” no anti-bullying or anti-hazing education for team members, and “a toxic and negative culture within the current football program.”
The team’s head coach, according to a 2025 Cheltenham news release, had been Terence Tolbert, a business teacher at the school and a former semi-professional football player. When reached Thursday, Tolbert declined to comment.
Cheltenham’s football program will be rebuilt eventually, Scriven said, and the district will adopt investigators’ recommendations, including identifying, hiring, and training a “new coaching staff with strong commitment to leading student-athletes in a positive and responsible manner,” and strengthening team supervision.
But, Scriven said, fielding a team in 2026 is not a given for the district.
The superintendent alluded to “a general lack of credibility on the part of many of those interviewed during the investigatory process” and said parent, student, and staff cooperation going forward is crucial.
“Those students who were not involved in this situation are especially important to rebuilding the culture of our program,” Scriven said. “If all of these conditions are met, the district will stand up a football team for the 2026 season.”
It is not yet clear whether the students involved could face punishment or criminal charges. Multiple students have ongoing Title IX and disciplinary matters, which could affect their eligibility to play football. Cheltenham Township police and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office are both still investigating the incident, according to the district’s message Thursday.
Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.
A U.S. citizen on her way to a medical appointment in Minneapolis was dragged out of her car and detained by immigration officers, according to a statement released by the woman on Thursday, after a video of her arrest drew millions of views on social media.
Aliya Rahman said she was brought to a detention center where she was denied medical care and lost consciousness. The Department of Homeland Security said she was an agitator who was obstructing ICE agents conducting arrests in the area.
Rahman said that she was on her way to a routine appointment at the Traumatic Brain Injury Center when she encountered federal immigration agents at an intersection. Video appears to show federal immigration agents shouting commands over a cacophony of whistles, car horns and screams from protesters.
In the video, one masked agent smashes Rahman’s passenger side window while others cut her seatbelt and drag her out of the car through the driver’s side door. Numerous guards then carried her by her arms and legs towards an ICE vehicle.
“I’m disabled trying to go to the doctor up there, that’s why I didn’t move,” Rahman said, gesturing down the street as officers pulled her arms behind her back.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security disputed that account in an emailed statement on Thursday, saying that Rahman was an agitator who “ignored multiple commands by an officer to move her vehicle away from the scene.” She was arrested along with six other people the department called agitators, one of whom was accused of jumping on an officer’s back.
The department did not specify if Rahman was charged or respond to questions about her assertion that she was denied medical treatment.
Barrage of viral videos draw scrutiny
The video of Rahman’s arrest is one of many that have garnered millions of views in recent days — and been scrutinized amid conflicting accounts from federal officials and civilian eyewitnesses.
Often, what’s in dispute pertains to what happened just before or just after a given recording. But many contain common themes: Protesters blowing whistles, yelling or honking horns. Immigration officers breaking vehicle windows, using pepper spray on protesters and warning observers not to follow them through public spaces. Immigrants and citizens alike forcibly pulled from cars, stores or homes and detained for hours, days or longer.
Another video shows ICE agents, including Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, detain two employees at a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota. Both are U.S. citizens who were later released, according to social media posts from family members.
Monica Bicking, 40, was leaving the homeless shelter where she works as a nurse when she took a video that appears to show a federal agent kneeing a man at least five times in the face while several other agents pin him facedown on the pavement in south Minneapolis.
Bicking works full time, so she says she doesn’t intentionally attend organized protests or confrontations with ICE. But she has started to carry a whistle in case she encounters ICE agents on her way to work or while running errands, which she says has become commonplace in recent weeks.
“We’re hypervigilant every time we leave our houses, looking for ICE, trying to protect our neighbors, trying to support our neighbors, who are now just on lockdown,” Bicking said.
‘I thought I was going to die’
Rahman said in her statement that after her detainment, she felt lucky to be alive.
“Masked agents dragged me from my car and bound me like an animal, even after I told them that I was disabled,” Rahman said.
While in custody, Rahman said she repeatedly asked for a doctor, but was instead taken to the detention center.
“It was not until I lost consciousness in my cell that I was finally taken to a hospital,” Rahman said.
Rahman was treated for injuries consistent with assault, according to her counsel, and has been released from the hospital.
She thanked the emergency department staff for their care.
“They gave me hope when I thought I was going to die.”
A Wilmington native who died while being held as a prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II has been positively identified through analysis of his remains, U.S. military officials said this week.
Army Lt. Col. Louis E. Roemer was taken prisoner in the Philippines when the Japanese captured the island fortress of Corregidor in May 1942 after American forces lost the Bataan Peninsula, according to historical news accounts.
He remained a POW in the Philippines until late 1944, when the Japanese began to move prisoners as an American invasion force retook the occupied territory.
Roemer may have survived transport on two Japanese “hell ships” — which had reputations for inhumane conditions and cruel treatment — that were both attacked by Allied forces, only to die afterward of an illness, reportedly on Jan. 22, 1945. He was 43.
He had been loaded in Manila onto the transport ship Oryoku Maru, destined for Japan. However, U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, and it eventually sank in Subic Bay on Dec. 15, 1944.
Roemer was then transported to Formosa, now known as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru. While that ship was docked at the Port of Takao in Formosa and still loaded with prisoners of war, it was hit by Allied aircraft on Jan. 9, 1945. Approximately 400 Allied POWs were killed.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the Japanese reported that after the Enoura Maru was attacked, Roemer was placed aboard the Brazil Maru, bound for Moji, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Roemer reportedly died of acute colitis during the last stage of transport, the Japanese reported.
“However, since historical and contemporary evidence indicate that the Japanese government-reported Brazil Maru casualties list contains errors, he conceivably could have died at any point during this December 1944 to January 1945 POW transport, including the Jan. 9 attack on the Enoura Maru,” the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said.
In 1946, a U.S. military search-and-recovery team exhumed a mass grave on a beach at Takao in Formosa and recovered 311 bodies. Attempts to identify the remains were unsuccessful, and they were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In 2022 and 2023, remains linked to the Enoura Maru were disinterred from the Punchbowl for analysis. Scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said. Scientists also used mitochondrial, Y-chromosome, and autosomal DNA analysis.
Roemer was officially accounted for on July 28, 2025, the agency said Wednesday. The announcement was made after Roemer’s family received a briefing on his identification.
Roemer will be buried in Pittsburgh, the agency said.
According to historical news accounts, Roemer was one of three brothers who served as high-ranking military officers during World War II. He was born in Wilmington and graduated from the University of Delaware in 1922 with a chemical engineering degree. He was inducted into the Army through the ROTC.
Before the war, he was assigned to the Chemical Warfare Service on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines under Maj. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright.
Japan attacked the Philippines just hours after Pearl Harbor. On April 9, 1942, American and Filipino forces surrendered on the Bataan Peninsula, and Corregidor fell about a month later.
Roemer was subjected to the notorious Bataan Death March, which led to the death of thousands of POWs.
His family did not know what had happened to him until December 1942, when they were notified by the U.S. War Department that he was a prisoner of war in the Philippines.
Roemer was able to send a couple of postcards to his family through a system facilitated by the International Red Cross, and on one occasion a freed POW was able to communicate a message to Roemer’s family he had heard through a POW “grapevine.”
Col. Louis D. Hutson wrote to Roemer’s wife, Mary, and said Roemer “was in very good health and quite cheerful and he asked in case I were returned to the States before he returned that I write you and send you and his boys and his mother all his love,” the Wilmington News Journal reported on March 30, 1945.
At that point, Roemer had already been dead for at least two months.
His family did not learn about his death for about five more months.
Roemer was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star Medal with V device and the Legion of Merit award.
“Colonel Roemer saved hundreds of lives during the famed Bataan Death March, but it was for his service before the surrender of American troops that he was decorated,” a 1947 News Journal article said.
Another news story relayed an account by Sgt. Alfred Torrisi, who said that during the Bataan Death March, Roemer “often slipped out of camp at night into the jungle to get wood for charcoal, from which he made the only soothing medicine available for the sick men.”
Torrisi said Roemer was in charge of hospital service at the Cabanatuan prison camp, where “practically everyone was a patient.”
